


It’s a match

by Fletcher



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Matchmaking, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 12:32:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/900349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fletcher/pseuds/Fletcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin is completely fine with his single status, too bad Gwen isn’t. She’s determined to find him the perfect match. Her quest becomes truly dangerous when she decides that Arthur Pendragon would make a perfect husband.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It’s a match

Gwen was looking at him with great pity in her eyes. She really knew how to make the doe-eyed look work. However, Merlin really wasn’t in the mood for another pity party.

“Gwen, would you please stop looking at me like I just survived a hurricane. I’m fine, honestly.”

“I’m sorry, Merlin. I can’t help it, it’s just so horrible.” She nearly had tears in her eyes. “To be dumped like this, after three years and for someone so much younger, it’s just devastating.”

“Mordred is only four years younger than me,” Merlin pointed out. “And three years isn’t that much, there are people who break up after thirty years, that’s tragic.”

“You’re right of course. Besides, it’s not like Gwaine was ever that much of a prize. He’s a horrible dick.”

“Wow, Gwen said dick,” Merlin laughed. “You really are upset about this.”

“I am,” she said seriously. “I guess the pregnancy hormones aren’t helping either.”

Merlin gave her a comforting hug. “You really shouldn’t worry about me so much, you’ve got little Lance or Gwen to think about. I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself,” he assured her.

“I know you can, you’re strong and independent,” she said encouragingly. “You don’t need a man to make you happy.”

“Ok, now you’re starting to sound like a Beyoncé song. But you’re right, I don’t need a man. I gave this whole relationship thing a chance, obviously it’s not my thing. After three failed relationships, I can only conclude that men are dicks. Present company excluded of course.”

“And Lance,” Gwen reminded him. “Actually, Lance is the perfect example that there are good men out there. You just have to find them.”

“You can’t use Lance as an example,” Merlin argued. “He was probably created in a lab somewhere, that level of perfection is exceptional. Plus, you didn’t even find him, you just bumped into him in a bar. I met Gwaine in a bar as well and look how that one ended.”

She didn’t seem to find that argument very convincing. “The difference is that Lance and I met and decided to go on a date. When you met Gwaine, you slept with him and spent the next three weeks trying to remember his name. True love stories never start with ‘I got drunk.’ No, we are going to aim so much higher next time.”

“There won’t be a next time, Gwen,” he insisted. “Strong and independent, remember. Trust me, the last thing I need is to find yet another version of Gwaine, Cenred or Valiant.”

“It’s not fair to judge all men because you’ve met a couple of subpar ones. Besides, it’s a bit  your own fault,” she said gently.

“What! You can’t blame the victim.”

“I’m not!” she clarified quickly. “It’s just that you do have a thing for bad boys. In fact, I will never understand the media’s obsession with bad boys. Give me a nice, intelligent and dependable man over some rugged, dangerous bad boy any day.”

“Everyone knows bad boys are way sexier.” Merlin still had vivid memories about Gwaine on that Harley Davidson.

“Pfft, sexy doesn’t support you when you lose your job, when you get sick, when you lose your hair.”

“If I had lost my hair, Gwaine could have donated some of his own. I will miss that hair, it was lovely.” He really did love that hair.

“Forget the hair,” Gwen said, looking quite combative. “I am going to find you a nice man. I want my baby to have the happiest godfather he could possibly have.”

“Don’t worry, his uncle Merlin will always be there for him. His single uncle Merlin who will leave him lots of money when he dies.”

Gwen sighed, “I know you earn quite well, but my baby doesn’t need an inheritance. Save that money for your own family.”

“You really are unbelievable.”

“It’s a bit early to say that, I haven’t even started. I’m six months pregnant so that leaves me with three months to find you the perfect man before my life is taken over by another creature.”

“Ah, the joys of motherhood. But you will fail, I’ve spent over a decade searching for the perfect man, you’ll never find him in three months.”

“Oh, Merlin,” she laughed like he was being really silly, “of course I will. I’m calling the troops.”

Merlin frowned sceptically. “Hmm, if our dear friends are in these troops, I think your mission is even more destined to fail.”

Gwen clearly wasn’t interested in his predictions. “You can be as sceptical as you like but this will work. Absolutely. If you’ll excuse me, I have to call Lance, Elena, Mithian and Will.”

“Well if Will is involved, there is no problem,” Merlin mocked.

She ignored him. “I can’t wait for your wedding, Merlin,” she said wistfully, almost tearing up a little.

*

Of course, Merlin didn’t really take her threats seriously. This was the girl who once promised to find an unicorn and that was only five years ago. His main concern was to avoid Gwaine (and his boy toy) at all cost. He never thought it would come to this.

He never told this to Gwen or his other friends, but he really had envisioned little Merlin’s for him and Gwaine. But now here he was, twenty-eight and single again. Unlike Gwen, Merlin did understand the many benefits of being single, he was actually quite enjoying his freedom. When you’re in a relationship, you always have to take someone else’s feelings into account, not that Gwaine was ever that sensitive.

But single Merlin could book a trip to Paris for the weekend without any problems, he could stay up all night and watch porn (that was more Gwaine’s thing really), he could flirt with anyone he liked, he could sleep with anyone he liked. The possibilities were endless.

The issue was more finding someone he wanted to sleep with. Single Merlin had been gone for so long that he didn’t really know how to behave anymore.

For instance, he had been in this bar for two hours and had no interest in approaching anyone or in being approached by anyone. There were a lot of good-looking men here, too bad everyone of them had a slight quirk that put him off. Like the guy with the ginger moustache when he had brown hair everywhere else. Or the guy who looked like he was wearing his wedding suit. There was even a man who looked like he had eleven toes, he just had a feeling about it.

If he was really shallow, none of them were as gorgeous as Gwaine. He had always known that he was so out of his league. Merlin was skinny with dark and completely ordinary hair. His friends often described him as adorable. According to Will, it was his strength. But even that Mordred had stolen from him.

Mordred, who could have been cast as a younger version of him. It was wrong to be cast aside for a younger version of yourself at 28. These things were supposed to happen when you turned 48. Well supposed was the wrong word, it was just much more likely. Gwaine was the one already in his thirties, thirty-three in fact.

For some reason, Merlin’s boyfriends had always been older than him. According to Merlin, it could be explained by his craving for maturity. Mithian was convinced it was because they were the kind of arseholes who would always be single. Even when they were in their sixties, they would still be going after people in their twenties. Honestly, Merlin could envision Gwaine doing exactly that.

People were always so suspicious of someone still single in their thirties. Like they were eying you up, trying to spot the obvious faults.

Merlin (not thirty yet) considered his most obvious faults to be his average looks (adorable became creepy at a certain age), his job being a bore, his clumsiness and of course his mother. No one wanted to be legally connected to Hunith Emrys.

There were tons of other faults he could name. But there were only so many things you can think of when you were sitting alone in a bar and didn’t want to be shitfaced the next day.

That was why he went home, Gwen was right about one thing: he wasn’t going to meet a decent bloke in a bar like this.

*

His boss looked disapproving at him when he spilled coffee over his brand new file, but Gaius always looked like he couldn’t believe he hired him. Being a customer acquisition manager was never his dream, but it paid rather well. Which was good, but he couldn’t help thinking he should be doing something he enjoyed. The only reason he took this job was because his mother had insisted on it and there was no stopping her. There had to be more fun things in life than customer acquisition management.

Gwaine was an artist, that sounded so much more impressive when you met someone.

Damn, he really had to stop comparing everyone to Gwaine. He was a dick who cheated on him with his clone, time to get over him and concentrate on his job.

His really boring job.

Oh look, his phone rang, could totally be someone important. He quickly looked around the office and didn’t spot Gaius.

Before he picked up, he recognized Lance’s number. “Hi, you have reached Merlin Emrys. What can I help you with?” he asked, pretending to speak to a client. Always good to look professional.

“It’s Lance, I really need to tell you something or rather warn you.”

Recognizing this was an emergency, he took his phone and stood up. “Sir, I will be taking this call somewhere more private, it’s hard to understand you. Just a second.”

He almost ran to the toilets and asked, “What’s wrong? Is Gwen alright?”

“She’s fine, you’re not. Currently, you are going on a date with five men,” he informed him.

“What! Where did Gwen find five men? It’s been one day!” Merlin exclaimed panicked.

“It turns out that Mithian knows someone who works at a dating agency,” Lance explained, "she called her friend and told her this was an emergency so she gave her five names. But that’s not all of it, she’s also contacted Morgana.”

“Morgana!” Merlin sat down on the toilet. “Oh god, this is getting worse by the second.”

“I know, but Gwen thinks you should stop seeing all these tossers and find someone educated who know his wines and can speak French.”

Merlin rolled his eyes at Gwen’s high standards. “I don’t need someone who speaks French and what is there to know about wine except for how you pour it in your glass. Morgana Pendragon only know pretentious twats and for some unknown reason, Gwen.”

“They’ve been friends since they were little, just like us. Besides, Morgana isn’t that bad, she’s always been very nice to us.”

“Yes, on her own she is perfectly fine,” Merlin agreed. “But every time she brings a new boyfriend to one of Gwen’s birthday parties, it’s always one of those incredibly pretentious twats. She has a type.”

“Well when your dad is related to the queen, you’ve got to have standards,” Lance reminded him.

“He’s only a cousin, it’s not like he is jumping on that throne any day now.”

“No, I guess he’ll have to comfort himself with his millions for now. I have to go, my patient is starting to give me shifty eyes.”

“You’re a vet, Lance. It’s not like he’s going to tell his owner that his doctor was trying to save his best friend’s life.”

“You can never be too sure. Some of these animals have a very sensitive soul,” Lance said seriously.

Lance hung up and Merlin rolled his eyes again, he really was a fairytale prince that one. And yet Merlin had never felt any attraction to him, not even when he was still figuring out his sexuality. What was wrong with him?

*

When he got home, he resolved himself to avoid Gwen’s phone calls, it was probably morally wrong to upset a pregnant woman but he really couldn’t deal with all those men right now. He just wanted a quiet night in with his cat. Maybe it was time to add another cat, Dragon must be lonely during the day without him. Or maybe not, since there was no sign of him anywhere in the flat. His flatmate wasn’t very dependable.

What he didn’t count on, was that Gwen would send one of her conspirators. Elena was at his door.

She looked slightly guilty, this clearly wasn’t a friendly visit. “Hello, Merlin, can I come in?”

“Don’t have much of a choice, do I?” Merlin replied.

“Not really,” she admitted. “Right, let’s keep this short. I’ve brought you five files, it would be very wise to look very carefully through them. If you pick one of these, you'll save yourself a lot of grief in the future.”

“This is ridiculous, Elena,” he sulked.

“Are you really going to argue with a heavily pregnant woman, Merlin? Do you want to induce labour?” she asked deviously.

“That’s not fair, you can’t blackmail me with a baby. It’s immoral,” he pointed out.

“So is love,” she argued. “I am trying to help you here. Gwen had lunch with Morgana. There are tons of eligible bachelors coming your way. At least these five don’t want to eat foie gras every night. Come on, look,” she tried to persuade him.

She pushed the files in his hands and Merlin reluctantly took them. She was probably right, it could get much worse. Maybe he could date one of these men, even if it was only for a few weeks, just to get Gwen off his back. She had much more important things to think about anyway.

He looked through the files and really started to panic.

“What’s wrong?” Elena asked concerned. “Is there an ex-boyfriend of yours in there or something?”

He held up one of the photos. “No, but the guy with the ginger beard is. Oh my god, what if he is my destiny. This is horrible.”

“Relax, it’s just a photo.”

“I’ve seen the real thing, it’s horrifying. None of these men look anything like my type.” Merlin was starting to grow suspicious. “What criteria did Mithian give that girl?”

Elena suddenly found the floor very interesting. “I don’t think there were any criteria, except immediately available.”

“Are you kidding me? So basically I got the leftovers, thanks.”

“Leftovers can taste mighty fine. Just pick one, you don’t have to marry them.”

“That’s a relief, since I apparently have no control over my own life,” he scoffed.

“Listen, Gwen and Mithian are genuinely concerned about you,” Elena said. “All they want is to see a smile on your face. So pick a guy, go on a few dates, show him off to the girls and they will realize that you’re not depressed anymore.”

“I was never depressed,” Merlin lied.

“Who wouldn’t be depressed when they caught their boyfriend of three years going at it with another man in his own flat?”

“Yes, no need to do a recap, I know the facts,” Merlin muttered. He was trying really hard to vanquish that particular memory.

“Trust me, if I ever see Gwaine again, I will set his hair on fire and then his balls. He’s a horrible bastard and a blight on humanity.”

“You never liked him, did you,” he observed suddenly. She was a better liar than he was.

“Truthfully, no. It’s my profession, I’m a psychologist and all he ever projected was sleazy. Looking like a GQ model doesn’t mean you’re good boyfriend material. Now please don’t get back together or this confession will be very awkward.”

“No chance in hell, he didn’t completely destroy my self-worth,” Merlin assured her.

“But he did hurt it, that’s why a casual date couldn’t hurt you. It will be good for you to realize that normal men like you.”

Merlin was starting to feel like he was in therapy. “I’ve never been that popular with men, Elena.”

“Because you’ve always been fixated on the wrong ones. Open your eyes, Merlin, and you’ll see.”

“All that advice about men coming from a lesbian.”

“Even if I don’t sleep with them, I’ve grown to know them quite well. The things my patients tell me,” she shivered slightly. “There is this one guy who would be perfect for you but it is unethical to pair off my patients.”

“Thank god for that. I’ve already got Morgana to worry about, I don’t need you on my case as well.”

“Sorry, I really have to go now, Mithian is making dinner. But promise to call me later to give me a name. Remember, one date might be all it takes.”

“I promise,” Merlin said obediently.

*

He really did try, but not one of these men looked like his soulmate and their profile proved that even more. The tiny little romantic inside Merlin, had always believed that meeting your soulmate should be something that happened completely spontaneous. Like you saw each other in the elevator and it was love at first sight. He was a firm believer in first impressions.

Eventually, he decided to just pick the one who he judged to be the best of the crop. His name was Cedric. There was nothing seriously wrong with his looks, his profile didn’t look that promising, good enough to get through one night with him.

He called Elena to inform her about the good news and to make it clear he was expecting a reward for this enormous sacrifice.

*

Cedric seemed quite keen on him when he called him. Only two nights later they were having dinner. And it dragged enormously, he was counting the minutes until they got their dessert. Just like he predicted from his profile, Cedric seemed to love talking about himself. One conversation and Merlin felt he could write his biography.

The only things Cedric knew about him were some basic facts: age, profession and sadly his address.

When Morgana Pendragon suddenly approached their table, he felt a sudden relief. At least Cedric would have to stop talking for a minute.

“Merlin, what a surprise to see you here,” Morgana said, with a huge smile on her face. She seemed genuinely pleased to see him.

“It’s good to see you, Morgana. Although rumour has it you’re on the enemy’s side now.”

She chuckled, “Gwen just wanted my help, who am I to refuse the request of a pregnant woman?”

“I love Gwen, but I will be relieved when that baby is finally born. Blackmail material should never be that strong.”

“When it’s born, she will have even more blackmail material,” she warned him jokingly. “Babies can be terribly cute.”

Cedric coughed, probably wondering why no one was paying him any attention. “I’m Cedric, Merlin’s date.” He emphasized the word ‘date’ as if it would make Morgana back off immediately.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been so rude,” she apologized. Sometimes she reminded Merlin of a real princess. “I’m Merlin’s friend, nice to meet you Cedric. I’d better be off anyway, I’ll see you later,” she said to Merlin and nodded at Cedric.

“Later,” Merlin said, watching his chance at freedom walk away. It wasn’t even that they were such good friends in the first place, but sometimes he really appreciated Morgana.

Cedric launched into another monologue and Merlin cursed Lance’s fertility.

*

“How bad was it?” Will asked.

“Let’s just say that I had more laughs at my last dentist visit,” Merlin replied.

“I’m sorry, Merlin,” Gwen said sincerely. “Morgana rang me to tell me you were looking quite desperate. But I really hoped the date had improved after she left.”

Merlin threw her a suspicious look. “Are you instructing people to spy on me or something? It’s quite a coincidence that Morgana was at that restaurant when I was having a ‘date’.”

“Of course not, and I would never choose Morgana to be my spy anyway. She stands out too much. Spies should blend in, I’d pick Will.”

“Oi,” Will said, sounding quite insulted. “My personality stands out perfectly fine.”

“Yes, but your looks don’t.” Then she realized that sounded quite insulting and added, “I just meant that you don’t dress outrageously. I mean, Morgana likes to wear orange, that is not a colour that blends in.”

“Whoever was there, it’s quite clear that this was a flop,” Elena concluded wisely. “But it’s good you tried, Merlin, maybe it’s time for you to take a break and have some time for yourself.”

Merlin loved Elena, so much.

“Nonsense, we have to keep on moving forward,” Mithian said decisively. “We’re on the right track, we just have to work a bit harder.”

“Why does everyone keep saying ‘we’?” Merlin asked frustrated. “When did my love life become a group project? Will is single, no one is jumping up and down to help him out.”

“Thank you for pointing that out, mate. I appreciate it,” Will said.

“Don’t worry, Will, you’re next,” Gwen said sweetly.

“Crap, I hate you Merlin. Just so you know.”

Merlin laughed, “I can’t wait to see what they come up with for you. Where is Lance by the way, I could use an ally.”

“There was a sick turtle, he couldn’t leave him alone,” Gwen explained. “Poor thing is living his last hours.”

“It must be exhausting to be married to prince charming,” Merlin said.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll meet your own prince,” Gwen said with complete conviction.

The scary thing was that Merlin was starting to believe her, she was that convincing.

*

He was at work when Gwen informed him about the next step of her plan and that step was called Morgana.

Apparently, Morgana just happened to throw a party with all her closest friends (about 200 of them) this weekend. Everyone there would fit Gwen’s criteria: handsome, educated, rich, and unfortunately posh. This was starting to sound like she was plotting an arranged marriage for him.

But in the end it was just a party, not anything life changing. Plus, if he got through this, Gwen and Mithian would probably calm down a little. He already had Elena on his side. Of course there was also Gwen’s daily report on who the guests would be. He could put together his own of guide of Camelot’s most eligible bachelors by now. Fortunately, they weren’t in London, otherwise Morgana would have even more candidates.

Actually, he never really understood why Morgana stuck around in Camelot. It wasn’t like her situation was similar to Gwen, who fell in love with Lance and never thought about going back to London. Camelot University had an excellent reputation but not a lot of people stayed here after they finished their degree. Morgana did go back to London regularly, but her roots were definitely in Camelot. Merlin presumed she probably wanted to avoid the rest of the Pendragons, from what she told them they were huge snobs.  

Nevertheless, when it was finally Saturday night, Merlin was looking forward to Sunday morning. He just wanted to get this over with. Actually, he couldn’t even look forward to tomorrow since he had promised his mother to meet her for lunch. But Monday would be totally amazing.

Morgana lived in a huge townhouse, bought by her parents when she first moved to Camelot. Gwen had lived there as well, until she moved in with Lance. So Merlin had been there on several occasions which is why he knew the best places to hide. Too bad he got caught by the door.

Gwen was looking particularly superior. “Hello, Merlin, I’m glad you finally made it here.”

“Gwen, it’s five past nine, we were supposed to be here at nine. That’s not late.”

“If you’re not here at nine then you are by definition late. Hurry up, we’ve got to go talk to Morgana,” she ordered.

Merlin realized that she was going to be a great mother. She would certainly compensate Lance’s softness.

Morgana was holding a glass of wine and talking to Lance. Merlin felt relieved there weren’t any ailing turtles tonight.

“Merlin, you look absolutely smashing tonight,” she complimented him. “Ready for you army of admirers?”

“Thanks, Morgana, but no one is admiring this,” Merlin said, pointing at his body.

“Don’t put yourself down like that,” Lance admonished him. “You look very handsome.”

“Great. So who am I meeting first? The CEO of Parker Corporation or the architect who designed the new city hall?”

“It’s up to you, of course,” Morgana said pleasantly. “You should go mingle, see for yourself what’s out there. I have told a few people about you so they are waiting with bated breath.”

“Well then I’m starting with the architect, I never liked blondes.”

*

There was something about the architect (he couldn’t remember his name, Peter?) that bothered him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he seemed like the kind of person who would cry during sex. Merlin politely excused himself and went off to talk to the CEO. Maybe he would have better luck there. His hope was short-lived when he started talking to the CEO (Dave?). He was clearly only interested in talking about his corporation. Merlin didn’t understand what could possibly be so interesting about work. He never voluntarily shared any information about his own job. When he asked Merlin where he would be spending his holiday, Merlin answered truthfully his own flat, he received a very condescending look from the CEO of Parker Corporation.

The search continued.

Six guys later and Merlin was desperately searching for a way to escape, but Gwen kept an eye on him. He decided to spent some time talking to Will and Elena but Mithian took him away to meet some heart surgeon.

He excused himself to the heart surgeon, who honestly wasn’t that bad aside from the wig, and fled upstairs. If he got caught, he would blame a stomach flu.

Before he managed to get inside the bathroom, the door was opened by someone else. He was older than Merlin, probably in his mid-thirties, but he was devastatingly handsome. Merlin didn’t even like blondes, but the blonde hair was really working for him. He even had a few streaks of grey hair, he would probably look even better grey. Great body as well, now it was time to find out what was wrong with him.

“Hello, I’m Merlin, a friend of Morgana. It seems like we had the same idea,” he joked.

“What on earth are you talking about, friend of Morgana,” the man said coldly.

Merlin’s earlier admiration got flushed down the toilet, he wasn’t running away from the snobs, he was one.

“Never mind, slight misunderstanding. Could you please move, I would like to go inside.”

He wasn’t moving. “You do realize this is private property, you can’t just wander inside people bathrooms,” he lectured him. “There is a reason there is a rope in the hallway. Morgana’s friends have a habit of taking things that don’t belong to them.”

“And what makes you so different from them?”

“I’m not Morgana’s friend, I’m her brother, Arthur Pendragon.”

“Well Arthur, it’s a pleasure to meet you, no doubt. But I really do need to take a piss and all the toilets are occupied downstairs. So if you don’t mind, I promise not to steal her shampoo.”

Arthur finally moved and let him in, but Merlin knew that he wouldn’t go downstairs until he did.

Twat.

*

Sadly it seemed like it was safer downstairs so Merlin had no choice but to go back. But after meeting Arthur, what he really wanted was to go home. Accused of being a thief didn’t exactly lift anyone’s mood.

Fortunately for him, Elena came to his rescue this time. “Merlin, you look like you’ve been hit by a bus,” she said. “What happened? Did you run into a pervert, there’s bound to be one at a party like this.”

“Worse, I’ve met Arthur Pendragon and now I’m officially done with this party.”

“Morgana’s brother? That’s weird, I had no idea he was here, he never comes to Camelot. And I’m thinking he wasn’t very nice to you?”

“No, and you know that the first impression is the most important one.”

“Well, actually a first impression can tell you only so much because there is this..,” she started going on a tangent until Merlin put his puppy face into good use.

“Ok, I’ll help you escape,” she caved in. “Will was quite drunk when I saw him ten minutes ago, I think he might need a ride.”

“Thank you,” Merlin said and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re welcome, but I am going to ask Morgana why her brother has made a sudden appearance at this party.”

“Do whatever you want when I’m gone, I don’t care about the Pendragons.”

*

Will had been so drunk that Merlin took him back to his own flat. He really didn’t appreciate him enough sometimes. Even if he had ruined his bathroom carpet. After he suffered through lunch with his mother, he decided to pay Elena and Mithian a visit. He hoped he could convince Mithian to stop this ridiculous matchmaking scheme.

Elena looked pleased to see him and said, “Come on in, we need to talk.”

“I agree, can you help get me out of this mess? I’m done with men for now.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Mithian said. “Gwen is even more determined after your complete failure last night.”

“More determined, how is that even possible?”

“I don’t know, but she is even scaring me now,” Mithian said.

“But you haven’t heard the worst part yet, they want to set you up on a date with Arthur,” Elena said cautiously.

“What! But he hates me and the feeling is completely mutual. What is he even doing here? Shouldn’t he be in London, running the company.”

“Apparently he is setting up a new branch in Camelot so he’ll be here for a while,” Mithian explained. “There were also some issues with his dad, he thinks Arthur should get married.”

“Well after having lunch with my mother, that is one thing I can sympathize with. How long is he staying here anyway, so I can do my best to avoid him.”

“At least three months, he also promised Gwen he wouldn’t miss the birth,” Elena said.

“That’s just great, that leaves me with three months of running away from him,” Merlin sighed.

“Well you’d better put on your running shoes, because we’re all having dinner tomorrow night,” Mithian informed him.

“I haven’t even been invited to dinner and it’s a Monday, can’t this wait until the weekend,” he whined.

“Shame on you,” Mithian said, “true love doesn’t wait. It’s the only free night Arthur had this week. He’s still busy settling into Morgana’s house.”

“He can settle in without me, I’m not going, I think I might have the flu tomorrow.”

Elena shook her head. “Don’t, Gwen will send a doctor to check you out. She is already planning the Pendragon-Emrys wedding.”

Merlin wanted to leave the country. “Doesn’t she realize what a twat he is?”

“She is probably seeing him through much more rose-coloured glasses than you,” Elena answered. “She’s known him since she was a kid and since he’s a bit older than her, there’s probably some hero worship going on here.”

“How much older is he? His hair has nearly turned grey.”

“No it hasn’t,” Mithian said, “he’s about thirty-five, so seven years older than you. Which makes him exactly your type. I’ve never seen you with anyone below thirty, even when you were only twenty yourself.”

“That’s the thing, my type hasn’t exactly worked out so it’s probably time I change it. I’m going for younger men now, possibly around twenty-five,” Merlin announced.

Mithian smiled at him. “Don’t be ridiculous, you’ll just have to marry Arthur, there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

*

Operation Avoid  Arthur was going terrible, absolutely terrible. So bad that he was sitting in front of him right now. He was trying to ignore him as much as possible, which wasn’t very difficult since Arthur mostly kept to himself and only spoke when he was spoken to. Merlin could tell he would prefer to be anywhere else but here.

Morgana seemed rather excited to have her big brother living with her. He still didn’t really understand their family dynamic completely. They had different mothers but Uther was still married to Arthur’s mother while Morgana was Merlin’s age. And she talked very lovingly about Ygraine Pendragon. But who was Merlin to judge anyone’s family? His own parents weren’t exactly normal either, which reminded him that it was probably time to check if his dad was still running around in that jungle. He was planning on coming back to Camelot in a few months to visit him. Knowing his dad, that didn’t mean he would actually should show up, at least he kept making plans to visit.

On the bright side, the food was really good and the company mostly enjoyable. Gwen was looking radiant. Merlin was starting to wonder what little Lance or Gwen would look like. Once the baby arrived, things would never be the same again. No more spontaneous Monday night dinners for instance, it really was time to grow up. Actually, it was depressing how grown up his friends were. Lance and Gwen were married, Elena and Mithian had an amazing relationship and even Will was growing up. He had been promoted recently which put him on executive level. Everyone on this table seemed very grown up, except maybe for Merlin.

Arthur was very grown up and apparently too mature for their company. Mithian hated leaving someone out and asked him if he was leaving anyone behind in London.

“No,” he answered dutifully, “I don’t think I’d be here if I was.” He glared at Merlin.

Well at least he wasn’t stupid, then again Gwen was as subtle as a brick wall.

“I have been single for a while now,” Arthur added.

“A while,” Morgana scoffed. “More like three years, dad is getting desperate. Ever since his fiancé cheated on him with his best friend, all very cliché.”

Arthur looked even more uncomfortable than before. “Thank you, Morgana, I hope you realize that even though Elena is a therapist, this is not a therapy session.”

“Well you could definitely use some,” she said sweetly.

“At least he didn’t cheat on you with your clone, like Merlin’s bloke did,” Will said, trying to cheer Arthur up and depressing Merlin at the same time.

“Oh yes, that dreadful Gwaine bloke. You know him, don’t you, Arthur?” Morgana asked.

Arthur poured himself another glass of wine, obviously deciding that alcohol was his best strategy. “That does ring a bell, Gwaine Lancourt, artist. Quite overrated in my opinion. I bought some of his pieces as an investment for our basement.”

For some reason, Merlin still felt a bit defensive of Gwaine. “You put up artwork in your basement?”

“We had it specially installed for our investments. Are you some great art connoisseur or something?” Arthur asked rather condescendingly.

Merlin decided not to answer that and took another sip of his wine, following Arthur’s strategy. Fortunately, that’s when Gwen felt the baby kick and everyone was quickly chatting about that.

Arthur didn’t say another word to him that night and he was completely fine with that.

*

The next weekend, Merlin was on another date. With a colleague of Gwen this time, his name was Percy. He looked like he lived in the gym, but apparently he was a lawyer like Gwen. Even if Merlin did remember his name this time, he kept calling him the lawyer in his head. He was perfectly nice but it became quickly obvious that there was no real chemistry between them. He wasn’t really Percy’s type either, he obviously would have preferred someone who looked like Gwaine. Who wouldn’t?

They said their goodbyes and Merlin actually felt good about this date, he had gained a friend with this one. But those Pendragons seemed to smell whenever he had lunch with someone, because he ran into Arthur.

“Merlin, what a surprise or is it?”

“Yes, Arthur, I’ve been stalking you. Desperate for that Pendragon fortune, think of all the bathrooms I could raid.”

He thought he could spot a small smile on Arthur’s face. “That is a relief, believe me. And I have been trying to convince my sister to stop this matchmaking nonsense.”

“You won’t succeed,” he warned him. “At least you’re getting out in a few months. Some of us aren’t that lucky.”

“I will never understand my sister’s love for this place. It’s so tiny.”

“It’s one of the largest cities in this country, with a prestigious university and everything,” Merlin said, suddenly feeling defensive about his home. He was allowed to insult it, not this stranger.

“I didn’t mean to offend you, it’s charming. I just can’t wait to be back home and not live with my little sister anymore.”

Not really feeling Arthur’s apology, Merlin said, “Well good luck with that. I hope it all works out for you. And I can assure you that I will do everything that is humanly possible to stay away from you.”

“So will I. It’s good to have an understanding. Bye, Merlin.”

“Bye, Arthur, hopefully until much later.”

*

“It’s my birthday, Merlin, you have to come,” Morgana said.

“I’m sorry, Morgana, I really can’t come this Saturday. I have to work, I can’t get out of it,” Merlin said, trying to channel someone who actually cared about his job.

Even if she was just on the phone, Merlin could sense that he was not getting away that easy.

“You work for Gaius right? I’ll call him, ask him to make an exception just this once. You seem like such a dedicated employee. Don’t think it will be that much of a problem.”

“That’s alright, no need to go to all that trouble, I’ll be there,” Merlin quickly agreed.

“Good,” she said, “I can’t wait.”

Merlin took an early lunch break. Another weekend spent with the Pendragons, Operation Avoid Arthur was officially a disaster.

*

Before he knew it, it was time for Morgana’s birthday party and he didn’t even have a decent present for her. Elena assured him that a bottle of perfume was fine, but Morgana always intimidated him. She had always been Gwen’s friend first, who sometimes hung out with the rest of them. If only he was more like Will, who had his secretary pick something up during her lunch break.

Fortunately, Morgana seemed pleased with his present and Will’s. Of course, she immediately pointed out the available bachelors and her brother, who was looking quite miserable, and proceeded to shove him right in front of him.

Will left him alone there, the bastard.

“Merlin, it seems we meet again,” Arthur said, he sounded miserable as well.

“Apparently you forgot  to mention your sister’s birthday to me. I would have left town if I knew.”

Arthur sighed, “I’ve never cared about these things, Morgana just likes to throw parties.”

“I know, but she usually doesn’t invite me.”

Arthur seemed slightly confused by Merlin’s explanation. “It’s weird that you don’t seem to consider her a real friend of yours, she seems to love you. She talks about you constantly, she is practically planning our wedding.”

Merlin waved away his concerns. “That’s just Gwen’s influence. She’ll realize soon enough that we don’t match, at all. You are way too...”

“I’m way too what, please continue,” Arthur pressed. “Don’t spare my feelings, I’m not that sensitive.”

“All right, since you asked for it. You’re too much of a snob for me,” he confessed, hoping Arthur wouldn’t be too offended.

But he surprised him when he started to chuckle, “You think I’m a snob. Well I guess you could have been much less tactful. At least you’re not comparing me to Gwaine, then I’d be insulted.”

“You are nothing like Gwaine,” Merlin protested. He wished Arthur would stop insulting Gwaine since he was insulting him as well.

“Yes, I know I’m not the kind of guy who goes swimming in the nude, or paints, or spells ‘I love you’ in a cake, but I’m alright with that.”

“How did you know about the cake thing?”

“Because that’s what guys like him do, they tell you constantly how much they love you but when the time comes to prove it, they don’t. I almost married one of them, thank god for my good timing. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I walked in on them after the wedding.”

Merlin really didn’t understand Arthur. “You seem so cold about it. I don’t feel lucky, walking in on my boyfriend with someone else, it’s shit.”

“You’ll get over it,” Arthur said, “probably with one of the guys they keep throwing at you.”

“You didn’t,” Merlin pointed out.

“Because I’m not dating anyone? Being in a relationship doesn’t make you a functional human being or happy. I wish my parents and my sister would understand that. No offense,” he added.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Merlin asked, feeling his irritation levels quickly rising.

“You just seem like the relationship type, how long have you ever been single?”

“Maybe not three years like you, but long enough. I’m planning on being on my own for a while, no matter what my friends seem to think.”

“You’ve got my support, I think we have fulfilled our duty for the night. Bye, Merlin.”

“Bye Arthur, hopefully until never.”

Merlin didn’t know why but what Arthur said, seemed to have hit a nerve. He started to analyze his love life of the past decade. His first serious boyfriend was Valiant, he was arrogant, rude and hot. He drove this motorbike and would take Merlin on long trips. They broke up because it was ‘time to grow up and stop dating students.’ There were some insignificant men in between, but his next important relationship was with Cenred. He was also outgoing and wild (he really did have a type) and about ten years older than him. They broke up when he suddenly wanted babies. And then there was Gwaine of course.

Compared to them, Arthur was dreadfully boring. But on the other hand, Merlin was pretty sure that he wasn’t the type who would dump you if got sick or lost your hair. Perhaps Gwen had a point, maybe someone like Arthur was what he needed. Not Arthur himself of course, he was merely a bad prototype of Merlin’s brand new type.

With that in mind, he approached the wedding planner. He should definitely know something about commitment.                                   

*

The rest of the night had been quite uneventful, but he did score another three dates. He was actually starting to enjoy himself as well. Being with someone like Gwaine, meant that your boyfriend always had to be the centre of attention. In the end, they were three very enjoyable dates. He didn’t want to jump into a relationship with any of them (no matter what Arthur thought), but it was nice to feel wanted again. He felt happier than he had for a while.

Gwen seemed pleased with his progress and temporarily dropped her matchmaking business. Not completely, but she wasn’t calling him with names of available bachelors. It seemed she really did want to see him with a smile on his face.

He wasn’t even surprised when he ran into Arthur yet again. Camelot really wasn’t that big.

“I think one of us will have to start calling the police the next time we happen to run into each other,” Arthur said.

Merlin wasn’t in the mood for Arthur’s lame attempts at humour. It had been such a good day until now. “Oh, let me guess, it won’t be you. Don’t worry, I’ve already got a healthy love life, no need to stalk anyone.”

“Ah so Gwen did get you in the end,” Arthur said smugly. “I knew she would, she has always been determined.”

“Yes, she is. But you’ll never guess this, dating can be fun. Have you ever heard of that word, Arthur, fun?”

Arthur pretended to think about that. “I’m vaguely familiar with the concept, mostly people behaving like idiots and feeling embarrassed afterwards.”

“You’re confusing fun with drunk,” Merlin scoffed. “An easy mistake for someone like you.”

“Someone like me? Do enlighten me,” Arthur challenged him.

“How can I say this diplomatically: you’re boring. I’ve seen you at several parties where you avoided all human contact, you’re always wearing suits even when you’re at a casual dinner party and the only thing you seem to care about is work.”

“That’s quite a good summary of me, Elena has some competition,” Arthur remarked calmly. “It seems you’ve got me all figured out and we didn’t even need to go on a date. That’s how good you are. Now, I’m not claiming to be an expert but when I look at you I see: a 28-year-old with an important job which you could never tell from your appearance since you still seem to wearing what you wore to school, who chooses men he knows will leave him eventually, probably some daddy issues, and of course there is the fact that you’re terribly insecure…"

“Wow, it’s been a long time since I wanted to punch someone, but you are making it seem so tempting.”

“I thought you liked honesty. It doesn’t really matter what you think, in a couple of months you won’t even remember me.”

“You honestly don’t care what anyone thinks about you?”

“Business partners, my family to an extent, anyone else: no,” Arthur answered coolly. “Definitely not cute strangers who my sister keeps pushing on me.”

Merlin couldn’t help but smile a little. “You could have mentioned the cute part in my extended analysis.”

“I’m sure you’re well aware of your looks, you don’t need compliments from me,” Arthur said.

“Maybe I don’t, but it’s always nice to receive them.”

Wait, did he just tease Arthur Pendragon?

Arthur was starting to sound amused himself. “Ok then, let’s go to the second part of my analysis: you’re good-looking, intelligent, friendly and have a decent sense of humour. Is that complimentary enough for you?”

“I had no idea you had it in you, you surprise me,” he admitted.

“Quite a feat for such a boring man. I have to go, always pleasant chatting to you. Bye, Merlin.”

“Bye, Arthur.”

*

Just when he thought Gwen had given up on him, she tried to set him up with one of her clients. She was a divorce lawyer.

Merlin once argued with her that a divorce lawyer couldn’t really believe in marriage, with all that anger and  bitterness she saw each day. But she told him it was the exaxt opposite, it made her believe in marriage even more. Because even with such a high failure rate, people were still trying.

Not that it mattered, she and Lance were growing old together. At least he had Dragon, a cat he had heavily abandoned with the resurgence of his dating life. Unfortunately he didn’t have the ability to talk back so Merlin was quite relieved when he heard the bell. He thought it was Will, but it wasn’t. It was his father, no longer running around in the jungle apparently.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” he asked, unable to mask his surprise.

“Well, I did write you that I was planning on visiting you.” He enveloped Merlin in a huge hug. “It’s so good to see you, boy. Tell me, is that Gwaine boy still hanging around here?”

“No, he left me for someone much younger.”

His father didn’t seem very upset. “Of course he did, that was a rotten egg, Merlin. You could do so much better. Do you mind if I put my bag in the guest room?”

Not seeing any room for refusal, he agreed. “How long are you planning on staying? A week?”

“A month at least, that’s when my next trip is scheduled.”

“You want to stay here for an entire month,” Merlin repeated dumbstruck.

“If it’s an inconvenience, I’ll find myself a hotel room.”

“It’s not a problem,” Merlin assured him, “it’s just that you never stay longer than a week.”

“Well I really wanted to see you,” his dad said cheerfully. “In fact, when I was faced with a lion, all I could think about was you and your mother. Although I’m sure she doesn’t want to see me.”

“I doubt it, dad,” Merlin said gently. “You know how she is, especially when it comes to you.”

“She deserves to feel that way, I was a horrible husband and father. But I do love you very much and I would like us to spend some time together. Is that all right with you?”

Merlin felt like a little kid on Christmas. “Sure, dad.”

“That’s great to hear, maybe we could start by going to this exhibit tonight. It’s about wildlife in Mexico, which is where I will be going next. I believe it is thrown by the Pendragons, ever heard of them?”

“You have got to be joking,” Merlin managed to say.

*

Merlin didn’t want to disappoint his dad so they went to the exhibit. It was weird knowing he would stay an entire month. He couldn’t even remember the last time that happened, he was probably still a teenager. Arthur was probably right about the unresolved daddy issues.

He really hoped Arthur wouldn’t be there, because this was starting to look like he really was stalking him.

One Pendragon was certainly there and she approached him immediately. “Merlin, I’m seeing quite a lot of you lately. This is my date, Tom.”

“Nice to meet you, Tom. This is my father Balinor Emrys. Dad, this is Morgana.”

“I had no idea your father was in town, you should have mentioned something at the party,” she admonished him.

“Trust me, I had no idea when I was at the party.”

“I like to surprise him,” his dad jumped in, thankfully. “This seems like an interesting exhibit, do you have any personal interest in Mexico?”

“Not really, I’m afraid. This is more Arthur’s thing, he loves travelling.”

“He does?” Merlin asked surprised.

“Yes, that’s why he wasn’t really happy to come here. He just got back from South-Africa, didn’t I ever mention that?”

“This Arthur seems like my kind of bloke, I can’t wait to meet him,” his father said to Morgana.

Part of Merlin agreed with him, it seemed like he hadn’t really met Arthur Pendragon after all.

Of course when they met, his father and Arthur got on like a house on fire.  His dad could make a rock smile at him and apparently his charms even worked on Arthur. Merlin had never seen him so animated, they were telling stories about South-Africa, Australia, Japan. It turned out it was Arthur’s job to set up new branches of their company all around the world.

That was probably the real reason he had stayed single for three years, he was never home. But from what he told his dad, Merlin deduced he was planning on staying in London after Uther suffered some health issues.

He did vaguely recall Morgana staying in London for a month because her dad had problems with his heart. So he was basically giving up his dream job to help out his family, no wonder he didn’t look too happy lately. It had to feel wonderful to actually love your job.

Merlin was pulled from his thoughts by his father who asked, “Son, do you have any idea when we went on that trip to Cuba?”

“That was after my graduation I think,” Merlin answered. “I remember feeling sick after all those cigars.”

“That’s right, and I remember protecting you from all these Cuban boys. Horrible taste he has,” he confided in Arthur.

“So you did meet Gwaine?” Arthur concluded.

“That boy was born to break hearts. Not suited for my son at all,” Balinor said knowingly.

Merlin didn’t like the way he was looking at Arthur, it reminded him too much of Gwen.

Arthur’s smile suddenly seemed to drop. “Merlin, I have to warn you, Gwaine just walked in here with his boy toy.”

“Great, that gives me the opportunity to give him a piece of my mind,” Balinor said.

A confrontation was the last thing Merlin wanted. “Don’t dad, just leave it. I don’t even want to acknowledge him. I’d rather leave.”

“You really don’t have to leave,” Arthur assured him. “He’s probably only here because he wants to sell me some more of his shitty art.”

Merlin shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, we should go. It was nice talking to you. Bye, Arthur.”

“See you later, Merlin,” he said.

Merlin smiled but he was bit more focused on getting the hell out of here, fortunately his dad seemed cooperative. But just when it looked like he made it, Gwaine stopped him. He looked amazing, the bastard.

“Merlin, what are you doing here? Developed a passion for art?”

Merlin couldn’t believe he was trying to make jokes. “It was very sudden, unlike your passion for 24-year-old boys. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Can we please talk about this,” Gwaine pleaded. “I don’t want you to hate me.”

“No of course not, because no matter how you behave, you just need the whole world to love you. Sorry to disappoint you, but I hate you and I always will. Now I have to leave because it’s not worth losing any energy on you. Goodbye, Gwaine,” he finally spitted out and he hoped that this time it was a final goodbye.

*

When they got back to his place, Merlin dropped down in his couch, back to feeling like shit. Which was completely stupid, clearly Gwaine didn’t give a shit about him.

“It got a bit intense in there, didn’t it?” his dad said.

“I’m sorry, I know you didn’t come here for my silly relationship drama.”

Balinor sat down next to him and gently said, “It’s not silly, this was very important to you. I bet it felt good, telling him off like that.”

“It really did,” Merlin said. He had fantasized about throwing several things at Gwaine, but this felt good too. He just needed closure and he finally got it.

“It always makes your mum feel better and I completely understand why. You probably wanted to give me one of those speeches yourself.”

“No, I swear,” Merlin rushed to say. “I never hated you, I understand why you left. You were never meant to stay here, in Camelot.”

“But I was meant to stay with you,” he countered.

“I always knew you loved me and that’s the most important thing. Even mum knows that.”

“That’s good to know,” Balinor said, sounding quite relieved. Maybe his dad worried more about him than he thought. “I’m sure soon enough you’ll be busy enough with your new boyfriend anyway to spend much time thinking about me.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not really dating anyone.”

“Arthur, of course,” Balinor clarified. “Why do you think he spent an hour talking to an old man like me?”

“Um, because you’re both interested in travelling.”

“Sure we have a common interest, but it’s not travelling.”

Merlin laughed, “Arthur is not interested in me, are you serious? He has made it perfectly clear what he thinks of me.”

“Listen, I may not be the smartest man around but I know people. Someone like Arthur, it takes time and work to figure them out. They don’t lavish you with praise and start telling you their darkest secrets, because they have to decide if you’re worth the effort first. But once they do let you in, they’re incredibly loyal.”

“It seems like you’re describing a dog,” he joked.

His dad didn’t seem to find it that amusing. “Not a bad comparison actually. If Arthur was a dog, he would have been licking you all night.”

“That’s disgusting. I’m going to bed now, hopefully you’ll feel more sane in the morning.”

“I love you too,” Balinor called after him.

*

It was a bit of an adjustment, having his dad around. Of course Merlin still had to work, he did take one day off so they could walk around in Camelot. He even found himself a job in a local Starbucks. He really was unbelievable, Merlin didn’t think there was anything he hadn’t tried yet. It was fun to spend so much time with him and it also proved to be a distraction from the whole dating scene. Seeing Gwaine and Mordred put him off that again for a while. He wasn’t going to settle for anyone, not even to please Gwen. She would understand even if took a while.

“Good morning, hard at work I see,” Gaius said suddenly. Merlin tried not to have a heart attack.

“Didn’t see you there, Gaius. I was just thinking about my latest project, I don’t want to rush anything. Much too important for that, isn’t it?” he asked, seeking for validation.

“Do continue, but please come to my office later, we need to have a discussion,” Gaius said ominously.

Alarm bells were ringing in his head. A discussion with Gaius in his office, this probably wasn’t going to be about a promotion. He waited another hour, then his curiosity grew too strong and he knocked on Gaius’ office door.

“Come in,” Gaius said. When he saw Merlin, he added, “Here already, sit down please. I wanted to talk to you about your role in this company.”

“Am I getting sacked?” Merlin asked worried.

“Please let me finish. I know you didn’t take this job because of your great passion for customer acquisition management but you have been looking quite unhappy lately. I need to know if you really want to do this, because it is starting to affect your work.”

“Honestly, it’s not,” Merlin admitted. “But plenty of people feel that way, don’t they? Please don’t sack me.”

“I’m not sacking you, calm down. But I am considering transferring you to another department.”

“What department?” he asked warily.

“I’m thinking advertising, something creative. I think you’d fit there because I’m convinced that once you do find your passion, you can achieve great things.”

Merlin wanted to kiss him but thought Gaius wouldn’t really appreciate it. “Thank you, Gaius, this is really nice from you. Giving me this chance, I don’t know if I really deserve it.”

“I hope you’re not expecting an ode to your brilliance from me, but I know enough about this business to realize that competent people can turn into brilliant ones. If you give them the right position.”

*

That was how Merlin started working in advertising and it only took one full day for him to realize that he should stop listening to his mother. This was much more suited to him.

He liked coming up with new ideas and some of them were actually good. His new boss, Vivian, was also very supportive of him. His professional life was positively blooming, his personal life wasn’t doing as well.

His dad had been in town for weeks and he hadn’t been on a single date since. Gwen was eight months along and not longer as optimistic about the godfather of her child.   

He also avoided any run-ins with Arthur which was probably for the best since he felt uneasy about him after the whole ‘dog‘ conversation. He made sure his dad didn’t see much of Gwen either, he was certain they would conspire together.

Merlin was going back to his original idea, staying single for a long time. He had a new job to focus on and he was determined to succeed at this one. It felt good to care this much.

To celebrate his professional triumph, he decided to throw a dinner party with all his friends. Even if it meant his dad and Gwen had an opportunity to chat about him. No plan was flawless. The only person he didn’t invite was his mother, he didn’t want to be around fighting parents right now. Everyone was very excited for him, it was a great night. They all loved his dad as well, not very surprising. And as far as he could tell, no one mentioned Arthur.

Success.

*

His successful streak was over the very next day when he stopped by the Starbucks that employed his dad. Arthur was buying a coffee there as well. Of course his dad immediately called him over. “Look, Arthur is here. Why don’t the two of you have a seat over there, I have a break in five minutes. I still have to tell you something about Brazil, Arthur. It will blow your mind.”

“Of course, Balinor,” Arthur agreed and they sat down at a table together. What other option did they have?

“I think my dad wants to trade me for you,” Merlin started their conversation.

“I could say the same for my sister. We don’t seem to be very popular in our families.”

“Well I hope you’re interested in hearing about Brazil, because you will be here at least for half an hour.”

“I don’t mind, it’s nice talking to Balinor.” Merlin could tell he meant it. “Most of my friends don’t even think about leaving London for longer than a week.”

“What do you talk about with your friends? Your suits?” he blurted out.

“One of them is a designer,” Arthur smirked. “The usual I guess. I’m just glad they’re still talking to me, I haven’t been around much lately.”

“I can’t believe that Morgana never told us about that.”

“Maybe she did and you weren’t listening,” Arthur said wisely. “Honestly, my sister often doesn’t know where I am, she just assumes I’m back home while I’m living in Australia. Then she calls me to complain about the fact that I didn’t meet her for coffee yesterday. Little sisters just seem to have this assumption that their brother doesn’t have a life.”

“That’s what I like to assume about my parents. Still, she must love you a lot if she wants to set you up with a great guy like me.”

Arthurs studied him carefully. “You know you look a lot more cheerful, met your soulmate?”

“Nope, I just got a better job,” Merlin boasted. “It has improved my life immensely.”

“I can sympathize with that. Congratulations by the way, even I thought that being an customer acquisition manager sounded terribly boring.”

“And you would know all about boring, right?”

“Of course, some people have even called _me_ boring,” Arthur said, like he found the accusation outrageous.

“I think they were wrong, probably lacking from a hasty judgment problem.”

“Or maybe I’m just not very good at making first impressions,” Arthur suggested.

“I’ve learned that first impressions are often useless, some people are much more interesting than they first appear to be,” Merlin said.

Arthur had a huge smile on his face and Merlin couldn’t help it. He felt proud of himself for his achievement. Was Arthur’s hair looking particularly good today?

Balinor obviously had his break and sat down at the table as well. “Hello boys, sorry for interrupting, you seemed awfully chatty.”

“Don’t worry, I can’t stay much longer anyway, I just remembered I have another meeting,” Arthur said. “I’m afraid you’ll have to tell me all about Brazil another day.”

“No problem, we’ll talk later,” Balinor shrugged.

“Have a nice day, Balinor. Until we meet again, Merlin.”

“Until we meet yet again, Arthur.”

Balinor looked proudly at his son. “I’ve travelled many countries and this particular exchange would be classified the same in each and every one of them: you two were flirting.”

“I’m starting to worry about you, you’ve become more and more delusional.”

“I know you’re a fan of the land of denial, son. But I’m already calculating when Gwen will have to start working on the wedding.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side,” Merlin sulked.

“I am on your side, the side where you’re happy. And I think Arthur might be standing there as well.”

“It doesn’t really matter where he is standing at the moment, cause in a month his feet will be firmly standing in London again,” Merlin pointed out.

“You could always join him there, it’s not like it’s that far.”

“I can’t move! My friends are here, my mother is here and so is my brand new amazing job! And all for a man I’m not even seeing. You’re even worse at this matchmaking business than Gwen and Mithian.”

“Ok, message understood,” Balinor said, but he didn’t look that convinced by Merlin’s many arguments. “Cancel city hall.”

“Thank you and let’s stop talking about Arthur. You can tell me about Brazil instead, you’ve made me curious.”

*

He had an unpleasant blast from the past later that day when he saw Cedric walking across the street. He quickly turned up his pace so he wouldn’t have to say anything to him. He did ask Merlin to give him a call and he never did. Best to avoid an awkward confrontation. He was just relieved he hadn’t given him his own number.That was when he spotted Percy waving at him.

“It’s good to see you, you’re looking good,” Percy said.

“Thank you, you too.”

“Would you like to have dinner? I’m starving and I could use some good company.”

“That sounds great,” Merlin agreed.

Having lunch with Percy was very enjoyable, but Merlin couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was something else going on here. Was this a booty call? No, you’re not supposed to have dinner and talk before a booty call. But when Percy put his hand on his leg, he understood that Merlin’s trousers were his preferred destination.

Not that he wasn’t tempted (it had been a long time since Gwaine) but he could hardly take him home and staying at Percy’s meant explaining to his dad that he had a one night stand. Knowing him, he would probably be happy for him and that was not a conversation he wanted to have.

“Sorry to cut this lovely night short, Percy, but I have to get home. My dad is staying with me and I promised to meet him tonight. He still hasn’t tasted the marvellous Camelot beer.”

“Of course, I understand,” he said agreeably, although he couldn’t quite hide his disappointment that he wasn’t getting laid tonight. “But we should do this again sometime.”

Probably with a lot less talking and a lot less clothes, Merlin thought to himself.

“Sure,” was all he said.

*

He was still busy pondering about Percy when Vivian asked him to come to her office.

Crap, not again. He thought he was doing fine here.

“Merlin, do sit down. I just need you to sign some papers. For some reason, these transfers seem to take a lot of paperwork.”

“Of course,” he said, feeling incredibly relieved.

“Actually, I also wanted to tell you that I think you’re doing a great job. Very innovative ideas, exactly what we need here. I was wondering if you had any interest in this important new project we have. It’s huge so we’ll need several people. It’s about the Pendragon Corporation, you’ve probably heard of them.”

“Yes, I have,” Merlin said, inwardly screaming. The universe seemed invested in him meeting Arthur as many times as possible. “I’m actually friends with Morgana Pendragon, and I have met Arthur Pendragon on occasion.”

“That’s excellent news,” she said, sounding very excited. “I was looking for someone to have a meeting with Arthur. It’s in three days, but we’re still not nearly finished with our preparations. But having you on this meeting would be a great help. Allison will inform you about all the details.”

This was getting ridiculous, now he was having business lunches with Arthur. He couldn’t deny it any longer, as long as Arthur was in Camelot, he would never be able to avoid him.

Operation Avoid Arthur was officially cancelled, due to a horrible success rate.

*

“I just can’t seem to get rid of you,” Arthur said, while he was checking out the menu. They were having lunch at what was supposed to be one of Camelot’s best restaurants.

“The feeling is mutual, but I’ve only just got this job. Refusing this assignment would have been foolish. Besides, aren’t you a tiny bit relieved that it’s me, the best Camelot has to offer.”

“Well if you’re already advertising yourself, this meeting is off to a good start. So tell me your pitch, I’m curious.”

While Merlin did his best to sell his pitch, they enjoyed a very good lunch, Arthur seemed interested and told him he would need some time to think about it.

“I’ll probably know more in a week, it’s been very busy, I’ve run into some problems with this branch. I might have to extend my stay for another month.”

“Your dad won’t be pleased,” Merlin said, he was still curious about the inner workings of the Pendragon family.

“Oh, he’s doing much better, he’s back to running the London branch,” Arthur explained. “He just doesn’t want me to go live on the other side of the world right now. And this Camelot branch is very important to him, I think he has high hopes that Morgana will run it someday.”

“Morgana doesn’t seem particularly interested in the family business.”

“I know, she’s much more interested in design,” Arthur confirmed. He looked quite grim. “He might already be thinking of his grandchildren.”

“Poor Morgana, or are you planning on helping her out?” Merlin couldn’t help but mock him a little.

“I’ve given up on marriage,” Arthur said seriously.

“But you’ve never been married, isn’t that a tad premature?” Merlin protested.

“Fortunately I escaped in time. I just don’t see the point.”

Merlin was determined to prove him wrong. “But your parents are still married and look at Gwen and Lance.”

“I’ll give you Lance and Gwen, but my parents had a very tumultuous marriage. Morgana was born during their marriage, but she’s not a product of it.”

“Well, you are related to royalty, it’s in your blood,” Merlin pointed out.

Arthur didn’t seem impressed by his royal ancestors. “I really hope that infidelity is not a family trait, because I am _not_ interested.”

“My parents divorced when I was six, not because my dad cheated, but he just wasn’t interested in staying here. It was too confining for him, he needed more. That’s probably why people cheat, because they want more than what they have. But when you’re with the person of your dreams…”

“You live happily ever after,” Arthur filled in. “You know it’s things like this, that help me remember how much younger you are.”

“I’m twenty-eight,” Merlin replied, “and I’ve always had a thing for older men.”

“Interesting,” Arthur said, there was a cheeky smile on his face.

It hit Merlin how suggestive that sounded. “Oh God, not you of course. Not that I think you’re old or unattractive,” he stammered.

“It’s okay, I would never accuse you of fancying me. Although, why not? Merlin, I would like to invite you to dinner. On purpose, and not for business.”

“We can’t, it would be letting Gwen win.”

“I’m proposing dinner, not marriage. And she doesn’t have to know,” he whispered.

“Hmm, a secret rendez-vous? That sounds, dare I say it, fun.”

Arthur grinned at him, it was a sight he could get used to.

*

Going on a secret date meant that he couldn’t delude himself into thinking he was doing this for Gwen. No, the truth was that he wanted to go on a date with Arthur. He just wasn’t going to tell anyone.

Arthur was a lot more interesting than he originally assumed. The opposite of the men he usually went for. Best-case-scenario, he finally had sex. Worst-case-scenario, he gained a new friend. There was no real loss here. The only risk was liking Arthur a bit too much, he was going back home in a few months. And despite his father’s ideas, he would never leave this place for anyone, he had a responsibility as a godfather.

He looked in the mirror one last time, his hair definitely looked the best it was ever going to look. The other good news was that his dad was staying with an old friend in Edinburgh this weekend so he didn’t need to lie to him about where he was going tonight. He was feeling like a teenager all over again.

Arthur had suggested this tiny Chinese restaurant since Morgana hated Chinese. Keeping in mind his tendency to accidentally run into Pendragons, this was probably a good idea.

Arthur was actually wearing something more casual, a very nice gesture.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Arthur said.

Merlin played along. “What a coincidence, I never thought I’d find you in a place like this.”

“There are few places I haven’t been. I’ve already ordered some wine, I hope you don’t mind?”

“Bring on the wine is my motto,” Merlin informed him. “So, tell me three surprising facts about Arthur Pendragon.”

“Have you been watching too much daytime television?” Arthur asked.

“Seriously, I know it sounds stupid but these kind of questions actually work. I used them on my last three dates and they delivered me the result I needed. Namely, that one date was more than enough. Don’t get me wrong, they were nice men but they were missing something.”

“Fine,” Arthur sighed, “I’ll oblige, but just to prove you wrong. You can’t judge someone on such a ridiculous question. Shame on you, you’ll probably be married to one of these poor men one day.”

“I highly doubt it.”

“I’m sure Gwen will let me know. Ok, I have a degree in English, not business like you would assume. I hate golf. I hate ties, so much.”

“I don’t think you understood the question very well,” Merlin chided. “Because these answers are not that surprising.”

“Then show me what you’re supposed to say,” Arthur challenged him.

Merlin decided to tell him three things he really hadn’t told anyone. “I once slept with a professor, not a married one. I know that Mordred wasn’t the first affair Gwaine had.”

Arthur interrupted him, “What? You knew that Gwaine had been cheating on you?”

“I didn’t _know_ , but part of me had assumed it for a while. He was so interesting and such a free spirit, I assumed he would get bored being with the same person. He lasted three whole years, a lot longer than I ever thought he would.”

“You deserve better than someone like that,” Arthur said. Then he added cautiously, “Morgana thinks that Leon, my ex-fiancé, cheated on me with my best friend. That’s not completely true, I mean he probably did sleep with Tristan but the person I caught him with was Sophia. Our wedding planner.”

“Oh God, that is fucking awful.”

“I know. If Morgana knew, they would both be dead in a ditch by now. That’s why I never told anyone. Also because it was even more humiliating for some reason. That I was so bad in the sack, he had to turn to another gender.”

“I don’t think him sleeping with that woman was proof of your lack of sexual prowess. I’m sure you’re excellent in the sack.”

That seemed to cheer Arthur up. “Are you propositioning me? Trying to get me to prove how good I am?”

“That was not my intention,” Merlin said quickly. “But if you really need a quality check, I could always help you out. If you can keep up with a young man like myself, you’ll know for sure that you’re still a sex god. But seriously, if there is one thing I've learned, it is that there is only one person to blame. And it is not the one who got cheated on.”

Arthur looked thoughtful. “You know I never told anyone that, your stupid questions seem to have had an effect on me after all.”

“They’re not stupid,” Merlin said. “Can we eat now, I’m starving.”

*****

When Arthur dropped Merlin off at his flat, they stood a bit awkwardly at the door. That was a first for them.

“Listen,” Merlin said, gathering up all his courage, “I know you were joking earlier about the whole propositioning thing, but if you want to come up. I mean you’re welcome.”

“In your pants?”

“Yes, pervert,” he laughed.

But Arthur wasn’t laughing, he looked like he was formulating a polite rejection. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that it’s probably not the brightest idea. I’m only staying for a little while so it could never lead to anything.”

“I don’t see the problem,” Merlin said stubbornly. Ok, he might be a bit horny. “It’s not like you believe in relationships. Are you telling me you lived like a monk during your many travels?”

“Of course not. I have sex, just not with people I like. It could be too tempting.”

Merlin was starting to get fed up with this whole conversation. “I’m not asking you to move in, it’s just been a long time since ...” He took a breath and changed gears. ”Right, let’s just forget I ever said anything. We are probably going to run into each other many more times and I’d like to be able to still look you in the eyes. We’ll just see each other later, okay. Goodbye, Arthur,” Merlin said hastily and opened his door.

“Bye, Merlin,” Arthur said to his closed door.

Merlin called Percy over for a booty call. He felt much better afterwards.

*

He wasn’t exactly mad at Arthur for turning him down, he just felt awkward. It was always awkward when wires got crossed. Merlin thought they were heading towards some quasi-holiday romance (Arthur was sort of on a holiday) and Arthur clearly considered him a friendly acquaintance. Very awkward.

Not that he wasn’t attracted to Merlin, he had given him some very appreciative looks during their dinner and he had even said so himself. But not enough to jump his bones without thinking of the consequences.

The longer Merlin thought about it, the more grateful he became that Arthur had used his brain. Imagine Gwen finding out, or Mithian, or Morgana. Even Elena and Lance would go ballistic. No, this was very good news.

All he really needed was a true rebound shag and Percy had certainly served that purpose.

Once Arthur returned home, he would probably never see him again. Except maybe for Morgana’s wedding or something. Maybe not, he would probably be travelling again by then which was probably the reason he wasn’t at Gwen and Lance’s wedding. Or he might just really hate weddings, after the whole wedding planner debacle. Very understandable.

It was time to stop thinking so much about Arthur Pendragon. Next time he saw him, he would give him a polite nod and just continue walking. That is exactly what friendly acquaintances did.

*

Merlin lived up to his promise and the following weeks he acted like any friendly acquaintance would. Whenever he happened to run into Arthur (frequently of course), he gave him the necessary nod and a friendly ‘hello’ if he was standing nearby. But that was it mostly.

Until there was one event where he wouldn’t be able to avoid talking to him: Gwen’s baby shower, which was thrown at the godmother’s house. Morgana had insisted on it. And she had done a great job, looking at the house. Merlin couldn’t exactly envision all these people in his apartment. His dad had insisted on coming with him, he seemed very excited about seeing Morgana again. Merlin suspected he had a soft spot for the Pendragons.

Lance looked like a very proud father to be and greeted Merlin and Balinor with great enthusiasm. “I’m so happy you’re here, I hope your speech is ready.”

“Speech? What speech?” Merlin asked, very panicked.

“I think the godfather is supposed to give a speech, I know Morgana is giving one. Wait, did I not warn you about this?”

“No, you were probably busy rescuing a squirrel. Or you knew I wouldn’t be here if you did inform me.”

“Probably the second one,” Lance confessed. “I’m sorry, Merlin, it’s just really important to me that you’re here. You’re my best friend.”

“I am also the friend who hates talking in front of a crowd. I’m much better with small groups. Why are you doing this to me?”

“Just keep it short and remember who you’re doing this for,” Lance advised him. “Of course if you really don’t want to do this, I’ll find an excuse.”

“I’ll do it, I just needs some time to prepare.”

“Don’t worry, Lance,” Balinor said, “I’ll help him out. This is not my first baby shower.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Merlin sighed, but he was grateful for his father’s help. As if preparing a speech wasn’t nerve-racking enough, he also had to deal with Arthur’s constant looks. Since he wasn’t talking to anyone, as usual, it was very distracting.

Before he knew it, it was speech time so he didn’t have time to deal with Arthur. “I was informed that the godfather is supposed to give a speech. Um, unlike Morgana’s lovely speech, I’ll wrap things up quickly. I just want to say that Gwen and Lance have always been amazing and caring friends. In Gwen’s case, she cares a bit too much sometimes. But I know that they will be amazing parents and that their son or daughter will not only receive their good looks, but will grow up in a warm home. And as the godfather, I solemnly swear to spoil them rotten.”

Lance and Gwen were beaming at him and he raised his glass to them.

“Very good speech,” Balinor said, “short and from the heart, the best way to do it.”

“I agree with your father,” Arthur said. “Very well done.”

“Thank you, Arthur. Very much appreciated. I think I might go have a word with the happy couple, make sure they liked it as well,” Merlin said and quickly made his exit.

There was no point in avoiding Arthur, but he didn’t need to talk to him for hours either.

However, Balinor didn’t seem to agree with that assessment and invited Arthur over to his apartment so they could have a more ‘relaxed chat.’ At least that’s the explanation he gave Merlin when they came home from the baby shower.

Merlin wasn’t planning on being home when Arthur visited, but his father seemed to have knack for guilt trips. It was a newfound skill but he did have a point when he said they didn’t have much time left together. He didn’t want to miss out on spending time with his dad because of Arthur. Besides, whenever Arthur and his dad were in the same room together, they couldn’t stop talking. Merlin didn’t really have anything to add to the conversation. It was just nice listening to his dad’s stories and Arthur’s as well honestly. It made Merlin want to visit a travel agency.

The last time he had been on a trip was to France with Valiant, only they hadn’t really left their cabin then. His mother obviously wasn’t a fan of travelling, he didn’t think she would ever set a foot outside Camelot.

No matter how much thought he had given to the whole Arthur situation, when he knocked on his door, all he could think about was the fact that Arthur turned him down. He just wanted to jump through his window, but it was too late. He was already inside thanks to his ever helpful father.

“I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t prepare dinner, didn’t really have the time,” he said. “I ordered some takeaway. Chinese alright?”

Arthur gave him an answering smile, but it was a bit tight. “Of course not, I basically live on takeaway. I did bring some wine, Brazilian wine,” he winked at Balinor.

“Great, I love that stuff, my liver nearly didn’t survive that stay,” his dad said. “Sit down, mate. Lots to discuss.”

And so they began. Merlin felt more like a chaperone than a host. But he was perfectly alright with that. When his dad took a toilet break, Arthur asked him if he had any plans for the weekend.

“Oh yes,” Merlin answered, “I’m going on a date with Charlie, he’s a colleague of Lance. Gwen is now convinced that what I need is a close replica to her own husband.”

“A vet really? She could at least offer you a real doctor,” Arthur said, sounding a bit annoyed.

“I’m sure that’s coming up next,” Merlin assured him, still smiling.

Arthur looked more serious. “About the other night..”

Merlin interrupted him, “It’s not worth discussing, just a slight misunderstanding. A bit embarrassing, especially for me, but no one got hurt, right?”

“I think there has been a misunderstanding, you see...”

But once again Arthur didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence, since Balinor entered the room again and asked, “Arthur, I can’t seem to remember a single thing about Indonesia, do you?”

They started talking again, but Merlin could sense that there was something Arthur wanted to tell him, probably a formal apology. He was a gentleman after all.

*

Merlin was convinced he wouldn’t be seeing Arthur again anytime soon or at least not this week. He had dinner with Charlie, a very nice man. He understood why Gwen thought he was a decent enough clone of Lance, but there was a reason Merlin never had a crush on Lance. He was just a bit too nice for him, he needed someone with real opinions. Someone who wouldn’t be nice to the boy who kicked him around in school like Charlie probably was.

God, he really did have a bad boy complex. And there was really nothing to justify it, his three major relationships with so-called ‘bad boys’ had ended badly. Even when he still was in those relationships, whenever he had a serious problem he would go to his friends.

He couldn’t even imagine discussing anything serious with Gwaine. He would give him a kiss on the forehead, call him darling, say some meaningless shit and then go the pub.

He needed a partner, he wanted a partner. He was tired of carrying everything on his own shoulders. If he was going to do that, he might as well stay single.

He thought about Elena and Mithian, they weren’t as fairytale perfect as Gwen and Lance, they felt more real. They had fights, they weren’t always nice to each other, but when push came to shove, they were always there for each other. That is what he wanted.

So when Charlie called him a couple of days later to arrange another date, he accepted.

*

It was Wednesday, 11 pm and Merlin was sure that his father was in London. Very sure. Which was why he didn’t understand which madman was currently knocking on his door. He didn’t think he had any enemies and a burglar wouldn’t exactly knock.

Reluctantly, he got out of bed and went to check his front door. He was stunned to spy Arthur through his peephole.

“Arthur, what on earth are you doing here!” he exclaimed surprised, after opening his door.

Even more surprising was the way he looked, which was dishevelled to say the least. He smelled like he had spent the night in a bar, though he didn’t seem very drunk. “I’m sorry to disturb you this late, but I felt this overwhelming need to set some things some straight and my time is running out,” he said apologetically. He didn’t sound very drunk either.

“Come in, I’m glad my dad isn’t here, I don’t know how I would explain this to him.”

“Too much Brazilian wine?” Arthur joked.

“What are you doing here, Arthur?” Merlin asked, not overly friendly. He offered him a seat but Arthur declined.

“I never had the opportunity to say what I wanted to say, the other night,” Arthur started saying. He looked as determined as the first time Merlin met him. “When you invited me upstairs I refused, but not because I didn’t want to.”

“Because it could never lead to anything, I know.”

Arthur carried on with his speech. “Everything I said was correct, but there was one thing I didn’t take into account. I really like you, Merlin.”

“I like you too, I just don’t see how that changes anything.”

“I was sitting here on your couch, talking about airports or something, and then you laughed. It was this really silly laugh and I realized I like you making laugh. I like having lunch with you or dinner. Just spend time with you in general, really. I like you, Merlin.”

“This can never lead to anything, you know that,” Merlin repeated.

“We could try,” Arthur argued.

Merlin was determined not to get carried away again, the last thing he needed was another heartbreak. “I can’t Arthur, not with you leaving so soon. That’s what I wanted at first, some short-lived romance but not anymore.”

“It doesn’t have to be short-lived. I could stay here, the Camelot branch will probably be one of our most important branches.”

Merlin was wondering why Arthur wasn’t the one in advertising, he could sell himself very well.  “You can’t move for someone you barely know.”

“I’ve moved for much less important reasons. Sure, I’ll miss home but it’s not like I would be moving to the other side of the world again. And _if_ things don’t work out, I can always go back. All my parents ever wanted was for me to stay nearby. Besides, Morgana would be overjoyed if I stayed here.”

“How did I never notice how insane you are?”

“I hide it very well.”

“I don’t know what to think of this,” Merlin sighed. “I really didn’t see this coming. You told me about a million times that you never wanted a relationship and now you’re planning on moving to be in one. Seems like quite a turnaround.”

“If there is one thing I have learned is that some people can inspire you to turn your life around. Although for me it wouldn’t be such a drastic change really. On the other hand if you moved to London..,” he suggested.

That was exactly what Merlin was afraid of. “I can’t leave this place, everyone I love is here. Plus, I’m afraid I’m not as big as an adventurer as my dad. That gene must have skipped me.”

Arthur didn’t seem to care much about his genes and got a lot closer to him. And his main focus seemed to be Merlin’s lips. “As much as I liked travelling, I’m done with it now, even if my father hadn’t called me back. Now, I realize that you have to think about this but I can suggest something to occupy us in the meantime.”

“Let me guess, it involves my clothes,” Merlin said cheerfully. He wasn’t in the mood to worry now.

“Mainly, their removal,” Arthur smirked.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Arthur practically threw Merlin against the wall he had been leaning against. He really didn’t care where he was standing, because Arthur was finally kissing him. It felt amazing, Arthur felt amazing.

Suddenly Arthur hoisted him up and Merlin wrapped his legs around his waist. That felt even better. Kissing was nice and all, but by now Merlin’s dick was seriously straining against his pants and he thought it was time to remove them.

“Arthur,” he mumbled, “I really think it’s time we take off all these unnecessary clothes.”

“Great idea,” he said and he pulled down Merlin’s pyjama pants and promptly removed his shirt.

“What are you doing? We’re still in the living room.”

“I like your living room,” Arthur replied, and promptly went down on his knees. He searched through his pockets and grabbed a condom.

“Someone was feeling confident,” Merlin remarked.

“I am always confident,” Arthur said, before he took Merlin’s cock in his mouth.

If Merlin thought he was an excellent kisser, it was nothing compared to his cock-sucking skills. How Arthur could have ever thought Leon cheated because he wasn’t good enough.

Fuck, why was he thinking about Leon right now and not the man who was currently giving him the best blowjob ever. It was a bit embarrassing how fast he came, just in time to give Arthur some warning.

“Fuck, that was amazing,” Merlin blurted out. “You should give lessons on that.”

“Well I’m hoping to become your private teacher if that’s alright with you.”

“Fuck yes,” Merlin said and went back to kissing him. “You don’t happen to have lube inside your pocket.”

“Actually...,” Arthur said and he did pull out some lube and another condom.

“I’d say you were a boy scout, but no boy scout is such a sex god.”

“I like the sound of that, but I haven’t really finished my lesson yet. But remember to put that down on the evaluation later.”

Arthur started applying the lube generously, normally this wasn’t Merlin’s favourite part. Not that he didn’t like doing it, but never with someone he didn’t know very well, like Percy. But he trusted Arthur for some reason, the crazy man who wanted to throw his life around for him. It didn’t make any sense, but love never did.

When Arthur had finished preparing him carefully and started thrusting, he knew that was exactly what it was between them, love.

Arthur fucked him like his life depended on it and they couldn’t stop kissing. Merlin briefly thought his floor was really not suited for this. Arthur started touching his cock and that finished him off.

Afterwards they lay on the floor together, laughing.

“I can’t believe we did this on your floor, your fucking awful floor,” Arthur said eventually. “What’s even more crazy is that I think I'm falling in love with you, Merlin.”

“Me too.”

Merlin’s poor floor suffered some more that night.

*

The next morning, Merlin woke up feeling more satisfied than he had in ages. The only downside of hooking up in the middle of the week, was that they both had to get up early. No sleeping in allowed.

Arthur actually looked quite adorable asleep, his hair all messed up.

He woke him up gently, saying, “Arthur, time to get to work.”

“What? Oh crap, I actually forget all about work,” he said sleepily.

“I know, we have terrible timing or actually you have terrible timing. You really couldn’t have waited until Friday.”

“I really couldn’t,” Arthur confirmed, “and besides then your dad would be here which would have made for a very awkward breakfast.”

“I don’t know, you seem to be getting on quite well with my dad. He would probably burst out in tears of joy.”

Arthur yawned, “I have to warn you, I don’t think my dad will display the same levels of joy when he meets you.”

For some reason, Merlin’s stomach was doing backflips. “You’re already thinking of introducing me to your parents, that’s very quick.”

“Well, I think my parents are going to want to meet the reason for my move to Camelot.”

“About that... Are you absolutely sure about this? You don’t really seem like the impulsive type and I don’t want you to make this decision too quickly.”

“I may not be very impulsive but when I really want something, it doesn’t take me long to make up my mind. Don’t worry, the minute you get sick of me, I will leave in Camelot in disgrace.”

“I don’t think that will happen very soon,” Merlin admitted softly.

“Good news for me since I am starting to really enjoy Camelot.”

“I’m pretty sure Camelot likes you back.”

“Ok, be honest. How much time do we have left before we really have to leave for work?” Arthur asked.

Merlin quickly glanced at his alarm clock. “Not much, ten minutes.”

“I can work with that,” Arthur said and dragged Merlin back to bed.

*

It was very weird that Gwen had been trying for months to get Merlin a boyfriend and now that he did have one, he couldn’t tell her.

Well he could tell her, but he was scared she would immediately start dreaming of their wedding. He didn’t want to get her hopes up too much, he was barely in a relationship for a week. This could still go either way, no matter how confident Arthur was.

And Arthur was really confident.

The one person that did know about them was Balinor. That was pretty much unavoidable since he was living with Merlin. They could hardly spend time at Morgana’s house.

Balinor was predictably over the moon, it was the first time he had approved of one of Merlin’s boyfriends.

He wasn’t staying much longer anyway, he was leaving for Russia in two weeks. Merlin had no idea why Russia was so interesting, but he had a connection there that could get him a job. Plus, he had saved up some money from his job at Starbucks. That was the thing about his dad, he could adjust anywhere. It used to make him a bit jealous, but he didn’t have a reason to go anywhere at the moment. Everything he wanted was in Camelot.

Their brilliant plan to keep their relationship hidden for a while longer, was cut short when Gwen went into labour.

*

“I’m nervous, like really nervous,” Lance said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous.”

“I didn’t even know you could get nervous,” Merlin said. “Just keep breathing, it’s not like you have to do any of the hard work.”

“I know, I guess it just hit me that I’m going to be a father. There is going to be an actual baby.”

“Just go inside, Lance,” Hunith ordered, “you can have your little crisis later.”

Lance had no choice but to go in, Merlin gave him one last comforting shoulder pat. He honestly didn’t look that well, still his face was nothing compared to his mother’s when she was confronted with her ex-husband.

Luckily, shouting matches were not allowed in the hospital and they were both determined to stay, so for now there was peace. Poor Arthur, that wasn’t a very good introduction. Since Morgana didn’t know about them, they were sitting apart the entire time. Thank God for Elena and Mithian or Merlin would have been in hell now.

More than he was already since his mother was unable to stop making little cutting remarks about his dad, who was banished to sitting on Morgana and Arthur’s side. Elena and Mithian tried to keep up spirits, unfortunately they were fighting a losing battle. Merlin couldn’t wait for that baby to arrive.

And then many hours later, it finally did, it was a girl. Gwen and Lance didn’t have a name for her yet, although Morgana insisted that it was tradition to name her after the godmother. They didn’t seem convinced (neither did their families), probably just grateful that it wasn’t a boy.

Seeing that tiny creature, made Merlin realize that life could change forever in the blink of an eye. She seemed to have a calming effect on some of the other adults, his mother finally greeted Balinor. They would probably never make amends completely, Merlin was just glad they could stand in the same room without arguing.

When Arthur brought him some coffee later, he told him he wasn’t interested in keeping their relationship secret for much longer.

“Really?” He sounded surprised. “You seemed pretty set on that idea earlier.”

“Yes, that was before I realized how set I was on you,” Merlin replied.

“Are you now? Prove it,” Arthur challenged him.

“I can’t. Arthur Pendragon doesn’t do public displays of affection.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Arthur said, he grabbed Merlin and proceeded to snog the hell out of him.

“Sir, this is a hospital,” one of the shocked nurses exclaimed.

“Oh my god,” was Elena’s reaction. “I can’t believe this matchmaking business actually worked. Congrats Merlin, I don’t hate this one. But maybe wait with telling Gwen till she is out of the hospital. We don’t want her to go mental.”

*

Little Sophie Du Lac was one week old when her godfather officially changed his Facebook status to ‘in a relationship with Arthur Pendragon.’

He immediately received three messages from his matchmaking committee: ‘I’m so happy for you!!!’, ‘Told you so’ and ‘Good luck with my brother, you’ll need it’.

Oh, and one message from Will: ‘At least he’s pretty.’

 

THE END


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